Why people are pissed Kesha wasn't included in TIME’s ‘Person Of The Year’

The magazine selected a bunch of brave women, but forgot about Kesha.

Dec 07, 2017 1:17am

TIME just released their annual ‘Person Of The Year’ issue, awarding the title to “The Silence Breakers” (AKA the brave voices behind the #MeToo movement). Though this was a beautiful selection, with incredibly strong and pioneering women on the cover and celebrated throughout the magazine, there has been a bit of backlash, with some claiming that they missed an extremely relevant and deserving woman in their coverage. And that woman is Kesha.

As you probably know, Kesha spent several years in a draining legal battle against her alleged abuser Dr. Luke, who is an extremely powerful producer in the music industry. Kesha claimed that he sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused her throughout their professional relationship, and that Dr. Luke drugged and raped her on two occasions.

This was, no doubt, a traumatic time for Kesha, where (much like other victims in similar situations) she was terrified of her career being destroyed due to her coming forward with her truth. The case was extremely public, and the singer received a lot of hate — even being accused of attention seeking.

However, Kesha persisted and the Supreme Court case is still ongoing to this day. But with or without verdict, her story has helped so many other women come forward and she has been an example of sheer strength and bravery in the face of abuse and victim-shaming. The fact that the majority of Kesha’s struggles occurred before the now-infamous Harvey Weinstein news arguably also makes her a leader of change, or a “Silence Breaker”, if you will.

Which is why people feel as if Kesha has been somewhat snubbed in this years ‘Person Of The Year’ award. Not so much in a 'she should replace someone else recognised in the story', but more so in a 'there’s room for everyone in the #MeToo movement' way.

Here are some examples of the passionate responses to the TIME announcement:

In addition to the fury surrounding Kesha’s lack of appearance in the powerful round up, some fans are pissed about the fact that Taylor Swift is a prominent face of “The Silence Breakers” round-up. Taylor is recognised in the story due to her iconic court case against the man who shoved his hand up her skirt and grabbed her arse — where she famously counter-sued him for $1 after he sued her for millions of dollars on the grounds of defamation. She was fierce in court, she stood her ground and she won.

In fact, she even thanked Kesha in her TIME interview, explaining, “I spoke to Kesha on the phone and it really helped to talk to someone who had been through the demoralizing court process."

We really don’t want to get into the ‘who deserved to be recognised more’ debate, as all sexual assault cases should be dealt with seriously and shouldn’t be rated against each other. But Kesha fans are claiming the reference that Taylor makes to Kesha should have, at the very least, acted as a reminder to the editors that Kesha’s story was hugely important and she should have been celebrated too.

Now watch all the stars who have bravely spoken out about Harvey Weinstein: